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Romney: 'I'm not a business'

Romney sat down for an interview with Bloomberg/Business Week. There’s this exchange, in which Romney declares, “I’m not a business.”

BLOOMBERG: “Let’s frame the issue around your tax returns in a slightly different way. If you’re an investor and you’re looking at a company, and that company says that its great strength is wise management and fiscal know-how, wouldn’t you want to see the previous, say, five years’ worth of its financials?”

ROMNEY: “I’m not a business. We have a process in this country, which was established by law, which provides for the transparency which candidates are required to meet. I have met with that requirement with full financial disclosure of all my investments, but in addition have provided and will provide a full two years of tax returns. This happens to be exactly the same as with John McCain when he ran for office four years ago. And the Obama team had no difficulty with that circumstance. The difference between then and now is that President Obama has a failed economic record and is trying to find any issue he can to deflect from the failure of his record.”

He even was asked about that photo of him holding a dollar bill with his colleagues at Bain. Romney said: “Oh, that was a moment of humor as we had just done what we thought was impossible. We had raised $37 million from other people and institutions who entrusted us with their funds, and we thought it was a miracle that our group had been able to be so successful in fundraising. And ultimately we were able to yield for them a very attractive return by such investments as Staples, which was in our very first fund.

So it’s a happy memory. We had a great group of people, each one of whom I think of fondly.”

And about his time at Bain: “You lose your money and people can lose jobs. That’s always devastating. And I learned that not every business will be successful, even those that have been carefully selected and thoroughly evaluated. … I have never believed in my own ability to succeed at everything. I recognize I’m a human being like everybody else and I make mistakes, and fall short time and again.”

The Washington Post’s Blake: The health-care law which shall not be named is starting to get mentioned. Twice [yesterday], Mitt Romney’s campaign has cited the health-care law he signed as Massachusetts governor — seeking credit for something it took pains to explain away during the Republican primary race. Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul, responding to a harsh new super PAC ad featuring a man who blames Bain Capital for his uninsured wife’s death, broke new ground for the campaign by praising Romney’s health insurance mandate.”

And: “Obama’s health-care law remains perhaps the biggest arrow in the GOP’s 2012 election quiver, because it so motivates the GOP base against the president. Romney has been criticized for enacting a very similar law in Massachusetts. He was largely able to finesse the issue in the primary season and gather conservatives to his side for the general election. But there remain some concerns that his own health-care law may make it harder for him to prosecute the case against Obama’s law. Top conservatives, including radio host Rush Limbaugh, were quick to criticize the move.”

Some activist conservative reaction to a spokesperson’s comment on health care: